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thtrrttltt COMIC“ is all about action uym Herh llpp p, right In Mask Waterloo regional police officials In reconsid- er their decision nut In inwsligulv the RIM Park financing scandal. The Liberals opened their punt- to dull the memory of the Plains of Abraham, while neighbours m the south scrambled to shortcn art “In gal war hy using any and all moans to make the cm’my spill its guts, Fortunately, tht. rocks WPrC turned over and the offenses, came In light. with damagv ctmtrol kirk ing into high gear, Higher-ups ran for (awn putting their undorlings out in front In talu' the “ark. claiming loss of mPrntrry and lofty goals. As he put it. this is the lingual scandal in the region's history, There's nu way citizens - or police -- should turn a blind rye to the facts that led to an additional $13 million debt an the city's hands. Freedom at speech is titntrtllt protecting Whether one agrees or disagrees about the sad Israeli and Palestin- ian saga. Howard had the right 10 speak and it was trampled on here in Canada. But ii ién'l the principals who are at fault. those who squandered public funds or ehamml lht' ran Police say. despite uvvrwhelnling evidence that camc (ml of the RIM Park judicial inquiry that suggests blatant fraud. too much time has passed since the transuction wok place, Howhfd Rolberg's venue for his meet the author at Chapters is just the most recent example. This is unacccptahle and those trying to censor people in this fash- ion are the pcrpetratorss, and the target that defends chem self. is a victim, Charges appear to have been in order. even if it was simply disturbing the pram: last summer. thc sa_uhsnts ofthe University of Wau'rltm held a dchatctlccture [II] this wine lupir of Middle East cunflict, and a simi- lar [Null orcurrc& with the moder aim loming when the (ix-halt- got Power tttttttthit" drive major titNtt"tt"ttttttt Both grew out of dvspcratrs fir rumslanrrs with governments try ing to save face and mumry. here is a disturbing trend of I trying to silence penple from speaking out in a view you migtuoppose t isn't far from Quebec to Iraq, Iallhnugh 1hc two are half a world apart, The sponsorship and prisoner abuse scandals are rootcd in human nature watered by the thirst for power. The chance (If getting a unwit- tion is slim to none may police. And the cost to conduct an investigation is not worth the risk involved, LE'ITEI (:unsidering Waterloo residents are facing higher tax bills because of the RIM Park financing fiasco. the police are right tt: be concerned ahoutcnst. But at the same time. many citi- 1,8115 want to see justice. I guess we can thank the now former city council, led by former mayor Lynne Woolstencroft, for the oversight, completely out of hand The response that the student council considered was to stop hosting any political or religious or ethnic lectures. I spent my afternoon aI the stu- dent meeting lo help ensure such censorship did not win. and made the point that it is at settings like this. that different thoughts should he raised. That is how we come to understand opposing views. While the vote was in favour of defeating the resolution. the victory was hollow in that the council did " by secret ballot in order to avoid hcing targeted hy the oppusing groups. Shame. They should have stand up In both groups and made the point that the Middle East cun- flirts and others will not he decided at UW. but that students would he cducated as m the issues and learn to hchavc better. Agitaurrs should be shown the The police said an investigation would have made more sense if they'd been asked to get involved earlier. Granted Woolstencroft fought math and nail for the out-of-court settlement between the city, MFP Financial Services Ltd, and Clarita that shaved Mi? million off the cost of the park - bringing the price tag Blame lean Cretien and George W. Bush who held the reins and del- egated responsibility In a lumhcring 1ourvaucrary fat on our money, with little appetite to he profitable or particularly responsible. lured. but those who failed to understand that absolute power corrupts absolutely unless a watch- man is on constant duty. ensuring that a mission remains within the hounds ofhuman decency Arresting bureaucrats and court marshaling soldiers corrects noth- ing as those up on the chain of command wash their hands of the mess. pleading ignorance. The fool. ishness tmntinues afttsr a decent pause It would make sons? if we rid ourselves of governments and installvd a husiness, model where Pvr'ry pmmy is cqut‘vzvd till it murals V With profit at Ihl' fore. wc could know that "I" rontributirms WPO' bring wvll used, F,Rrfirfi%TorEiE - - i I) L, F i DITORIA] way out, Only by looking at the issues, without fear of being labeled for developing an informed opinion. are we honouring our freedom that we have in this country - (free- dom) that was paid at too high of a price by our citizens and soldiers to be thrown away. Bowing to the cowards who would try to censor this right is a collective shame and a dangerous trend. Free speech is still wnrth pro- tecting. We don't all have to have the same opinion on anything, just respect the other person as being entitled to have one. - The diligence this young group has shown in cleaning up others' messes is worthy of applause. down to $145 million from the heart-stopping S227 million. But who knows what the savings could have been had she, or other members of her council. pushed for a more in-depth police probe, Maybe instead of recommend- ing a public inquiry into the scan- dal, Many Taylor. former Ward 4 councillor, should have called 91 l. Led by Epp. the current council has redeemed hydro promissory runes worth about SIS million, which will go In the RIM Park debt. sued former treasurer John Ford to the tune of $31 million. and will now push for further police investi- gation into the scandal. "We stand on guard for thee ((Lanadal" hy ensuring free speech, nol hate mongering and censor- ship. Thus. democracy would remain intact, not the so-called democracy where well less than 50 per cent nf the populace puts a party in power. yes. due in part to voter apathy ris- ing from oNring what appears to he a hunrh of children running our affairs. Stockholder meetings would hc convened on a regular basis where the little guy could air his beefs and he heard, since it's lack and lill who arc paying the managers' wages- Wars. if il rvcr came In that, would he waged with the same strict controls evident on the plant floor wherc unions guarantee fair Imaxmom despite management protests, V Government fueled hy profit is preferable to nnr driven hy power, l V Il A Indy Greenwood-Speers Waterloo Iim Newton New I Tunder couple of weeks ago l was invited to attend a “big" Ai?j:',li,i'.e?iiit' at the bus terminal on Charles Street in ownlown Kitchener. The "big" announcement turned nut tO be a paltry $2.5 million joint funding initiative between the feds, province and the Region of Waterloo to develop teclr nical studies and to do an environmental assessment for the light rail transit corridor. N On further analysis, the region could have very well held this announcement all on its own since local taxpayers are carrying most of the freight (so to speak). of the s 2.5 million. $250900 is being funded by Transport Canada. $1 million by the province and $1.25 million by local Taxpayers. $25 million ta most people is a lot of money, but when the estimated cost of the first phase of the regional light rail transit proposal is $260 million. it is clear to me that support for this proposal at the higher levels of govemmem needs to be stronger. Regional officials were further buoyed last week when our light rail transit project was mentioned in the provincial budget: but, unlike other cities, there was no additional cash for the local LRT. The provincial budget contained $1 billion for the Toronto Transit Commission [jointly shared with the feds), $600 million for l the city of Ottawa's light rail transit "' - r. ll proposal and $150 million for York ‘ I TRKRLX ‘ Region's. Judging by these numbers. SPEAKING the $1.25 million from the federal and ‘ . 7 " l provincial governments for our project i " ' I is, well, rather insulting. l _ =F ' boa] taxpayers can't do it alone! If this project is to proceed success- - w fully. the senior levels of government V" must show their commitment with some serious cash. The first phase of the light rail transit is " kilometres. stretching from Conestoga Mall to SEAN Fairview Park Mall and is estimated to STRICKLAND cost $260 million. The second phase is planned to be 16 kilometres and will run from Fairview Park Mall to Cambridge. Doing some quick math reveals the total project cost to be $557 million [over halfa billion dollars) and roughly $18 million per kilometre. Either way. this project will require oodles oicash. and with- out more cash from the federal and provincial governments. we can't afford it. I have learned not to throw out my old ties because eventu- ally they will come back into style. Apparently, if you can believe this. 19705 décor is coming hack into vogue and the lradcrnark "shag rug" is definitely making a comeback. More local examples of these phenomena include the Kitch- one! City Hall. Kitchener Farmers Market and Waterloo City Hall. which are modern buildings recently constructed to try and recapture the essence of their older versions which were destroyed or abandoned in the name of progress. Considering the first phase alone, the region has made a commitment to fund Sl30 million. which would make this pro- ject the largest in the regimis history. Once completed, it is esti- mated that regional taxpayers will he on the hook with increased lax rates of three per cent per year to subsidize the opvration of the LRT. It's funny how thc world works sornctimes; and hnw as a (iv ilization, particularly in North America, we have a tendency to destroy many of the old Ihings to make way for the new. t kten only to regret our decisions liner and In: to undo our mistake by introducing "new and improved" models of things that are real- ly only updated versions of items used yvars ago. Thi, proposed light rail transit system" is i perfect example of decision-makers turning back the clock and trying to recreate a new and improved version nfa service that was here before. I am referring of course to the electric street cars that used to mn through our downtowtvi. I remember, like it was only yes- toniay. reading the local newspaper sometime in the 1970s when the electric strcet cars were stopped and cntvarurtion proceeded In rip am the track, "What was once old is new again" City managers al the time wcrt' quick to point um that it was thc 0nd of an era and qtret'trars were In be replaced by more modern. (-I‘TIriI'm. less "orpensive buses. Likc an old tie, our rivir loaders might have horn wiser In hang nmn thnsc street cars. because apparently thar/re bark in stync. F. m a il yo II r seanwseanstrfcuand.rom Is light rail transit right for this region? qurstiortrlrtrrome'nts In